Saturday 10th July 2010


Port Elizabeth is the largest city in the Eastern Cape. It is the commercial hub of this area. The other cities in the Eastern Cape include East London, Bisho, Umtata and Grahamstown. Port Elizabeth built the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium for the Confederations Cup but delays in construction saw it being sidelined for that tournament which was held in 2009. This time round, the city fathers were ready with their beautiful stadium built alongside a lake.

The third and fourth placed playoffs rarely attract the imagination of soccer followers, being likened to the experience of kissing a relative. The history of the third and fourth placed playoffs however indicates that these games are usually an abundant goal scoring fest. Germany has rested many of its first team players giving the impression that it has played out its World Cup and shall be satisfied with whatever performance its team puts up today. Uruguay on the other hand has named its strongest players to participate in this match.

The Eastern Cape is one of the poorest areas of South Africa. The response to the sale of match tickets in this region bears testimony to this fact. Tickets for most of the Port Elizabeth matches were still available long after the tickets for other matches were snatched up. Many South Africans from other regions of South Africa and notably Cape Town made the trip to Port Elizabeth to watch matches there after they were unsuccessful in securing tickets to games played in their own provinces.

The German team outdid themselves and won this game 3-2, once again allowing the Uruguay team to come back late in the match when the score line was allegedly settled. The drought stricken Eastern Cape was blessed with pouring rain at the start of the game. Sepp Blatter had to contend with the rain as he was introduced to the players on the pitch prior to the commencement of this match.    

Germany then finished third in the 2010 World Cup. Uruguay finished a commendable fourth considering the geographical size of the country and its relatively small population. I am sure that some of their soccer skills come from Brazil, who once laid claim to the land that is now the state of Uruguay. In Diego Forlan they have a player worthy of donning the title of player of the tournament. Suares however must cast off the notoriety that he gained by fending off the goal headed ball in the match against Ghana. The African supporters attending the match religiously booed his every touch of the ball. To his credit, Suares was not intimidated by the catcalls from the spectators and turned out another excellent performance for Uruguay.

It is just the finals that now remain.

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